International Norms and
East European Nations
Timothy Garton Ash notoriously claimed that the collapse of
Communistm in East-Central Europe brought forth “no fundamentally new
ideas on the big questions of politics, law, and international relations.” All
too often, scholars examine the region’s post-Communist “transition” by
asking whether countries have or have not accepted or implemented
institutions or values originally developed in Western Europe or North
America. Eastern European nations, however, have their own aspirations
rooted in domestic history and traditions. The garments of progress and
democracy must be tailor-made: one size does not fit all. While local elites
may also pursue illiberal policies under the banner of local peculiarity, they
may rightly detect imperial self-interest santimoniously posing as progress
or “international norms.”
This workshop examines institutional, legal, ideological or cultural
tensions between international actors and local elites. How do such
tensions affect contemporary diplomacy in East Central Europe? How
might they be resolved to mutual satisfaction?
5 February 2015 Victoria University, Wellington
Wood Seminar Room (OK 406)
Participant Contact Information
Joe Burton
Alexander M. Campbell
Fred LeBlanc
Alexander Maxwell
Stuart Prior
Wenwen Shen
Simona Soare
Olga Suvorova
joe.burton(at)vuw.ac.nz
alex_campbell46(at)hotmail.com
fredleblancphd(at)gmail.com
alexander.maxwell(at)vuw.ac.nz
karakaby(at)yahoo.co.nz
wenwenshen7(at)gmail.com
simona.soare(at)dri.snspa.ro
suvorova2005(at)mail.ru
Conference Schedule
9:50 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks
Alexander Maxwell and Wenwen Shen
10:00 – 11:00 “Diplomacy, Investment, and International Relations”
Stuart Prior (Honorary Consul for Belarus, Wellington)
“Integrating into the Global Market – Belarus, Russia, Ukraine”
Wenwen Shen (Victoria University)
“China, Eastern Europe, and Europe”
11:00 – 12:00 “The Evolution of Normative Stanards”
Alexander Maxwell (Victoria University)
“Abkhazia and the Donbass: A Tale of Two Interventions?”
Joe Burton (Victoria University, Politics)
“Estonia’s Role in the Diffusion of Cyber Security Norms”
12:00 – 1:00
Lunch Break
2:00 – 3:00
“The EU and Human Rights in Eastern Europe.”
Alexander M. Campbell (CEU, Budapest)
“Viktor Orbán: The Case of Hungary and the European Union.”
Fred LeBlanc (University of Otago)
“Why the Ukrainian Crisis is a Queer Issue”
3:00 – 4:00
“Responding to Crises”
Simona Soare (National University of Political and Administrative Studies)
“NATO Crisis Management Norm-sharing in Eastern Europe”
Olga Suvorova (Russian Keys Limited, Wellington)
“Post-Soviet Transdniestria – The Gilded Bust of Voltaire”
Conference Abstracts
Joe Burton (Victoria University, Politics)
“Estonia’s Role in the Diffusion of Cyber Security Norms”
Estonia was subjected to a barrage of cyber-attacks from Russian hackers in 2007 that
shut down government ministries, media outlets and financial institutions. This paper
examines the extent to which the attacks drove the adoption of cyber security norms
within the EU and NATO. The paper argues that cyber security norms in the European
area are at an early yet promising stage of development, that they have significant
potential to be ‘diffused’ to other world regions, and that the Estonian attacks acted as a
catalyst for broader and deeper cooperation because they highlighted historical and
geopolitical tensions with Russia.
Alexander M. Campbell (CEU, Budapest)
“Viktor Orbán: ‘Illiberal Democracy versus Liberal Democracy’, the
case of Hungary and the European Union.”
Recently the current Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, called Hungary an
‘illiberal democracy’ and claimed modern nation states should emulate the political
models of Russia and China. With the current situation in Eastern Ukraine and the fiscal
crisis in the European Union, Orbán’s speech highlights a changing attitude in Hungary
and within the EU from the political principles of the ‘West’ to alternative political
models such as those used in Russia and China. This talk focuses on the significance and
relevance of Orbán’s speech regarding Hungary’s political future to the current political
tensions between the EU, United States and Russia and China; and its importance in
understanding European dissatisfaction of the EU’s political structure.
Fred LeBlanc (University of Otago)
“Between a Rock and a Hard Place:
Why the Ukrainian Crisis is a Queer Issue”
Ukraine’s ouster of Kremlin-friendly president Viktor Yanukovych, Russia’s annexation
of Crimea and pro-Russian separatists in Luhansk and Donestsk Oblasts, has led to a
tougher situation for LGBT Ukrainian citizens. The wave of Euromaiden protests
resulted in a number of ultranationalist groups that renewed the rhetoric of
homosexuality as being a Western influence. For gay and lesbian Ukrainians, a move
towards European Union integration represents progressive possibilities. However, the
EU’s insistence on gay-friendly anti-discrimination policies to accede to the union have
only superficially been applied in some other post-communist countries. The EU’s
policies on the lingering homophobia that exists in Poland and Latvia, two Eastern
European nations that have relatively recently acceded to the EU, shows the EU’s failure
to affect change in Latvia but a slow transformation of Polish homophobia. Jasbir Puar’s
notion of homonationalism, though a critique of homonormative nationalism, can be
reconfigured as a survival strategy for LGBT citizens in Eastern Europe.
Alexander Maxwell (Victoria University)
“Abkhazia and the Donbass: A Tale of Two Interventions?”
Russia's 2008 intervention in Abkhazia and Russia's 2014 intervention Donbass
superficially appear similar. In both cases, soldiers of the Russian Federation acted to
assist a Russophile autonomy movement. In both cases, the Russian federation sent its
army to a former Soviet Republic taking a pro-Western diplomatic orientation. Both
cases have led to a diplomatic stalemate. Yet the differences remain equally striking:
Abkhazia had a longer history as a separate region, and more justification to resist the
Georgian central government. This talk compares the two regions, suggesting that the
Donbass intervention requires a more vigorous international response.
Stuart Prior (Honorary Consul for Belarus, Wellington)
“Integrating into the Global Market – Belarus, Russia, Ukraine”
The collapse of the Soviet empire in late 1991 released huge political, social and
economic forces. The tsunami of changes coincided with, and added strength to, waves
generated by global economic neoliberalism and the technological and informational
revolutions. Rather than proving the supremacy of the neo-liberal philosophy, events
Belarus, Russia and Ukraine have demonstrated its limits. This presentation focuses on
the different outcomes of change processes in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Taking a
“follow-the-money” approach, it considers whether “neo-feudalism,” with inherent
social instability and danger, is the logical outcome of the neo-liberal (capitalist)
approach based on the nationalisation of risk and loss and the privatisation of profit and
reward. It highlights in particular the problems caused by large-scale trans-national
movement of capital and the absence of international awareness of, and responsibility
for, the political, economic and social consequences.
Wenwen Shen (Victoria University)
“China, Eastern Europe, and Europe”
The recent economic crisis in Europe has affected the triangular relationship between
China, the European bureaucracy in Brussels, and East-European countries both within
and outside the European Union. East European states differ, but all seek Chinese
investment, and all share with China a historical experience as former Communist
countries. Such historical memories shape both diplomatic goals and policy action, and
call for scholarly attention. This paper examines the motives for Chinese bilateral
engagement with East European states, and questions whether national diplomatic
services have achieve a "Europeanized" policy toward China. It also illustrates the
mutual misunderstandings that characterize the relationship between China, the EU,
and East European states.
Simona Soare (National University of Political and Admin. Studies)
“NATO Crisis Management Norm-sharing in Eastern Europe:
Unintended Consequences and their Impact on Regional Security”
The countries of Eastern Europe (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine)
have been long-time beneficiaries of NATO crisis management norm-sharing
instruments. Against the background of the regional ongoing and frozen conflicts, the
paper investigates the effects that NATO’s crisis management norm-sharing processes
have had on the five Eastern European countries’ security behaviour. NATO’s crisis
management norm-sharing instruments produced unintended effects which have made
the Eastern European states’ security behaviour more unpredictable, and acted as
catalysts for the conflicts in Georgia and Ukraine. A substantial reform of NATO goals
and crisis management norm-sharing instruments needs to be operated on the basis of
the new regional and domestic security environment in Eastern Europe.
Olga Suvorova (Russian Keys Limited, Wellington)
“Post-Soviet Transdniestria – The Gilded Bust of Voltaire”
Transdniestria, a quasi-independent but unrecognised Russian enclave in Moldova
sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, has been left in limbo since a civil war in
the early 1990s. The Transdniestrian experience is being drawn on for the political and
economic management of disputed territorial zones on Russia’s borders which have the
appearance of traditional buffer zones or cordons sanitaires. What has been the reality
of life for people in Transdniestria living, through no fault of their own, in a permanent
limbo resulting from political stalemate? What message does it send to those who want
to live peacefully in accordance with established international values and norms? Who
has benefited from, and what sorts of behaviours have been encouraged by this state of
limbo? Is the fact that the nexus of money, politics and power deprives people of their
right to choose, the result of a lack of understanding or political will?
Thanks to Ken Perszyk of the School of History, Philosophy and Political
Science for our catering budget.